U.S. patent number 4,876,968 [Application Number 07/197,647] was granted by the patent office on 1989-10-31 for container carrying railroad car with improved support system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Thrall Car Manufacturing Company. Invention is credited to Richard E. Jamrozy, Thomas W. Lindauer.
United States Patent |
4,876,968 |
Lindauer , et al. |
* October 31, 1989 |
Container carrying railroad car with improved support system
Abstract
A railroad car for carrying containers comprising a car body
supported by rail trucks adapted for movement over a railroad; the
car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each end
connected to the side walls with said side walls and end walls
defining a well in which a container can be received; supports for
the bottom of a container, when in the well, comprising a plurality
of metal castings joined to each side wall; and each casting having
a substantially vertical leg joined at the bottom of a side wall
and an arm extending substantially horizontally inwardly toward the
center of the car on which a container bottom can be supported.
Inventors: |
Lindauer; Thomas W. (Dyer,
IN), Jamrozy; Richard E. (Lansing, IL) |
Assignee: |
Thrall Car Manufacturing
Company (Chicago Heights, IL)
|
[*] Notice: |
The portion of the term of this patent
subsequent to September 20, 2005 has been disclaimed. |
Family
ID: |
26893023 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/197,647 |
Filed: |
May 23, 1988 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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890284 |
Jul 29, 1986 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
105/415; 105/419;
105/418; 410/52 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61D
3/20 (20130101); B61D 45/007 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B61D
3/20 (20060101); B61D 45/00 (20060101); B61D
3/00 (20060101); B61D 003/20 (); B61D 017/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;105/4.1,404,406.1,411,413,414,415,416,418,403
;410/64,52,54,56,57,68,71 ;296/30 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Cherry; Johnny D.
Assistant Examiner: Hoge; Gary C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Marshall, O'Toole, Gerstein, Murray
& Bicknell
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 890,284, filed July
29, 1986 .
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A railroad car for carrying containers comprising:
a car body supported by rail truck means adapted for movement over
a railroad;
the car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each
end, spaced longitudinally inward of the truck means and connected
to the side walls with said side walls and end walls defining a
well in which a container can be received;
means for supporting the bottom of a container, when in the well,
comprising a plurality of separate individual spaced metal
reinforcements joined to each side wall and spaced inward of the
well end walls; and
each metal reinforcement having a substantially vertical leg joined
at the bottom of and being entirely adjacent a side wall and the
reinforcement having an arm extending laterally substantially
horizontally inward toward the center of the car on which a
container bottom can be supported.
2. A railroad car for carrying containers comprising:
a car body supported by rail truck means adapted for movement over
a railroad;
the car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each
end, spaced longitudinally inward of the truck means and connected
to the side walls with said side walls and end walls defining a
well in which a container can be received;
means for supporting the bottom of a container, when in the well,
comprising a plurality of separate individual spaced metal
reinforcements joined to each side wall and spaced inward of the
well end walls;
each metal reinforcement having a substantially vertical leg joined
at the bottom of a side wall and the reinforcement having an arm
extending laterally substantially horizontally inward toward the
center of the car on which a container bottom can be supported;
and
a reinforcement located near each side wall end opposite a
reinforcement on the other side wall and a lateral crossbeam
operatively connected to the side walls adjacent the opposing
reinforcements.
3. A railroad car according to claim 2 including a longitudinal
angle member secured along the lower inner portion of each side
wall and supported above and by each of the reinforcement arms.
4. A railroad car for carrying containers comprising:
a car body supported by rail truck means adapted for movement over
a railroad;
the car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each
end, spaced longitudinally inward of the truck means and connected
to the side walls with said side walls and end walls defining a
well in which a container can be received;
means for supporting the bottom of a container, when in the well,
comprising a plurality of separate individual metal reinforcements
joined to each side wall and spaced inward of the well end
walls;
each metal reinforcement having a substantially vertical leg joined
at the bottom of and being entirely adjacent a side wall and an arm
extending substantially horizontally inward toward the center of
the car on which a container bottom can be supported; and
the reinforcement leg and arm merging integrally into a unitary
corner of metal for the width of the reinforcement where the leg
and arm merge.
5. A railroad car for carrying containers comprising:
a car body supported by rail truck means adapted for movement over
a railroad;
the car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each
end, spaced longitudinally inward of the truck means and connected
to the side walls with said side walls and end walls defining a
well in which a container can be received;
means for supporting the bottom of a container, when in the well,
comprising a plurality of separate individual spaced metal
reinforcements joined to each side wall and spaced inward of the
well end walls;
each metal reinforcement having a substantially vertical leg joined
at the bottom of a side wall and the reinforcement having an arm
extending laterally substantially horizontally inward toward the
center of the car on which a container bottom can be supported;
a longitudinal horizontal structural angle member having a vertical
flange and a horizontal flange extending along the bottom of each
side wall with the vertical flange joined to the side wall; and
with the structural angle member horizontal flange supported by the
arms of at least two spaced apart reinforcements.
6. A railroad car for carrying containers comprising:
a car body supported by rail truck means adapted for movement over
a railroad;
the car body having opposing side walls and an end wall near each
end, spaced longitudinally inward of the truck means and connected
to the side walls with said side walls and end walls defining a
well in which a container can be received;
means for supporting the bottom of a container, when in the well,
comprising a plurality of separate individual spaced metal
reinforcements joined to each side wall and spaced inward of the
well end walls;
each metal reinforcement having a substantially vertical leg joined
at the bottom of a side wall and the reinforcement having an arm
extending laterally substantially horizontally inward toward the
center of the car on which a container bottom can be supported;
and
each side wall having vertical braces and the leg of each
reinforcement being joined to the side wall at one of the vertical
braces.
Description
This invention relates to railroad cars. More particularly, this
invention is concerned with an improved railroad car for carrying
cargo containers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Railroad box cars have been in use for many years transporting a
wide variety of cargo. Box cars are recognized as being primarily
useful when the cargo can be loaded directly in the car from a
siding adjacent its production without any prior shipping involving
substantial labor in loading and unloading the goods, as from a
truck. The same applies at the shipping destination.
In recent years it has been found increasingly efficient to ship
cargo in large containers by seal, railroad and highway. Shipping
in this manner avoids unpacking the cargo between the time the
container is packed by the shipper and received by the customer
thereby avoiding extra labor, breakage, and theft in handling and
reducing delivery time. These benefits are realized because the
containers are sized and shaped to be carried by highway trucks and
trailers, special railroad cars and container carrying ships.
One type of railroad car which is particularly suitable for
carrying containers is referred to as a well car. Such a car has
side and end walls and a partial or full floor thereby defining a
well or recessed space into which one or more containers can be
longitudinally positioned. The container sides are generally at
least two to three times higher than the depth of the well space.
Additionally, the containers can be double stacked when desired to
increase the shipping load.
Well cars of the described type suitable for carrying containers,
and also highway trailers, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.
4,091,742; 4,400,121; and 4,456,413.
To support a container in the well space, horizontal flanges or
ledges are positioned along the bottom portions of the side walls
so as to extend inwardly toward the car center. The lower side
corners of the containers rest of these flanges or ledges and
receive most of the container load. It has been found that
container supports of the described type, which are usually
fabricated of welded elements, bend and fail in use if the
container lengths are such that the loads are applied other than to
the corners of the well. A need accordingly exists for an improved
support system for containers in well cars.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention a well car for carrying containers is
provided comprising a car body supported by rail truck means
adapted for movement over a railroad; the car body having opposing
side walls and an end wall near each end connected to the side
walls with said side walls and end walls defining a well in which a
container can be received; means for supporting the bottom of a
container, when in the well, comprising a plurality of metal
reinforcements, such as metal castings, joined to each side wall;
and with each metal reinforcement, such as a casting, having a
substantially vertical leg joined at the bottom of a side wall with
an arm extending substantially horizontally inwardly toward the
center of the car on which a container bottom can be supported.
When containers approximately equal to the well length are carried
the container and cargo load is carried primarily by supports at
the end of the well. However, when shorter containers are centered
in the well, the loads are carried primarily by the castings, which
are able to accept such loads without failing because of their
rigidity, strength and resistance to stress failure.
A casting can be located near each side wall end opposite a casting
on the other side wall with a lateral cross brace connected to the
arms of said opposing castings.
The car can also have a longitudinal angle member secured along the
lower inner portion of each side wall and connected to the top of
each casting leg and arm.
Each car side wall can have vertical braces and the leg of each
casting can be joined to one of the vertical braces.
In a particularly useful form, each casting can have side flanges
with outer edges and web extending between the flanges outer edges.
If desired, the casting can have a central flange between the side
flanges. For added strength the casting can have a solid corner or
block of metal for the width of the casting where the leg and arm
merge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a well car for carrying containers
according to the invention connected to similar cars at each
end;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a side wall portion of
the well car shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2
showing a casting at the bottom of one well car side wall;
FIG. 4 is a plan view, partially in section and broken away,
showing the location of opposing castings on one of the well car
side walls;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the casting shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the casting shown in FIG. 5;
and
FIG. 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of the casting shown in
FIGS. 4 to 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
To the extent it is reasonable and practical the same or similar
elements or parts appearing in the various views of the drawings
will be identified by the same numbers.
With reference to FIG. 1, identical well cars 20,22,24 are
connected together by a commercially available articulated
connected 26 which engages the bolster of a standard two axle four
wheel railroad truck 28. It is intended that the cars remain
connected together as in a unit train except for repairs and
maintenance. It should be understood, however, that each car can
have a conventional four wheel truck at each end so that it can be
transported independently and be coupled to other types of cars of
a train.
Well car 22 has a pair of identical longitudinal spaced apart
parallel side walls 30,32 and identical end walls 34 near each end
of the car thereby defining a deep well space in which at least one
cargo container can be transported. A well car of this general type
is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,413.
Each side wall 30,32 has a tube 36 at the top. They function as
major load bearing members. Additionally, each side wall 30,32
comprises a metal sheet or plate 38 extending from tube 36
downwardly and having a longitudinal horizontal angle member 40 at
the bottom. The angle members 40 also function as load bearing
members. A series of spaced apart vertical side wall braces 42
extend from each tube 36 to angle member 40 and are joined to plate
38.
Near each end of each side wall 30,32 is located a special vertical
side brace 44 which extends from tube 36 to near the lower edge of
sheet 38. The brace 44 has a front face 46 and two tapered sides 48
which are joined to sheet 38 thus forming a tapered brace having a
rectangular horizontal section with an open rectangular bottom end
52.
A one piece metal casting 60 is located at the lower end of each
side brace 44. The casting 60 is desirably made of cast iron or
cast steel. Each casting 60 has a substantially vertically located
leg 62 and a horizontal arm 64 which extends inwardly toward the
center of the car. The casting 60 thus has a generally right angle
shape. The upper end of leg 62 fits into the open lower end of side
brace 44. The leg is welded to side brace 44 and to the bottom
portion of sheet 38. The angle 40 rests on top of arm 64 and is
welded to it.
Each casting 60 has integral side flanges 70,72 forming the sides
of the leg 62 and arm 64. Integral web 74 extends between the outer
edges of flanges 70,72. A central integral flange 76 is also
desirably included in both the leg and the arm. The casting 60 is
generally made with a solid metal corner 78 for the width of the
casting where the leg and arm merge (FIG. 7). The upper end of leg
62 of the casting 60 has a lateral horizontal flange 80 extending
between side flanges 70,72. The outer end 82 of arm 64 is made of
solid metal for its full width and height and is of rectangular
shape in vertical section. The space between flanges 62 and 76, and
76 and 72 is hollow and with flange 80, solid metal corner 78 and
solid metal end 82 defines four hollow pockets which keep the
weight of the casting low.
Extending between opposing castings on opposite car side walls
30,32 is a cross brace 90 consisting of a channel member 92
positioned with the channel facing upwardly. The ends 82 of the
casting arms 64 nest in the adjoining end of channel member 92 and
are welded thereto. Longitudinally positioned braces 96 (FIG. 4)
extend for the distance between the braces 90 at each end of the
car. The car contains additional floor cross braces, not shown, to
which the longitudinal braces 96 are connected. Floor shear plate
94 extends from end wall 34 over the top of channel member 92 and
is joined to it by welding. The longitudinal edges of plate 94 rest
on and are joined to the angle members 40.
The strength and rigidity of the castings 60 provide excellent
support for a heavy single container having a length shorter than
the length of the well space. The concentrated load applied to each
casting is readily borne without failure. Previously used
transition angles used for the same purpose but fabricated from
welded pieces were found in practice to develop stress cracks and
fail due to the high torque moment applied to the arms on which the
container was supported.
The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of
understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be
understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those
skilled in the art.
* * * * *